


Doctors and Dragons

by the_oncoming_drizzle



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dungeons & Dragons, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, OC - Cära, Phoenix!Cära, Ranger!Nine
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-03
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:55:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27375298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_oncoming_drizzle/pseuds/the_oncoming_drizzle
Summary: Rose is an ordinary shop girl working in Piccadilly, until an extraordinary man crashes into her life, blows up her job, and sweeps her off on an adventure....Oh, yeah, and apparently, his best friend is a phoenix, his rucksack is bigger on the inside, and he defends the land from evil magic. Welcome to the world of Doctors and Dragons.
Kudos: 3





	1. Rose

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing. The following uses several direct quotes from the episode "Rose". Please don’t sue me, Mr. Davies.

Rose Tyler woke up and hauled herself out of bed. The sun was rising on another late summer’s day. Rose dressed, had a bowl of porridge and a cup of tea for breakfast, and went downstairs to get the clothes shop ready to open before her boss arrived.

The day passed much the same as it had since spring, when Rose had left her home in Peckham to get a job in Piccadilly. She took orders from a few customers, helped with fittings, and by evening she had finished the repairs she had needed to do and had moved on to her favorite job: making new clothes.

Rose stuck a pin through the fabric on the waist of the wooden mannequin. She felt a hand touch her shoulder and almost jumped in surprise. She straightened up, expecting to see Wilson. She frowned. Henrick Wilson, the tailor and clothier she was apprenticed to, was nowhere in sight. He had said he was going home for the evening about half an hour ago. There was no one else in the room, just her and five wooden mannequins that were all wearing clothes in various states of completion.

Rose returned her attention to the dress she was working on and bent over to finish pinning the waist. The afternoon was quickly becoming evening, and she was ready to go back up to the loft for dinner, a book, and some rest.

She felt that hand on her shoulder again. She looked and saw that it was the wooden hand of the mannequin. She was momentarily startled, but calmed herself quickly, deciding that the jointed wooden fingers must’ve caught on the neckstrap of her apron.

Rose wondered again why Wilson had replaced all of their old mannequins with these new ones. There was something rather creepy about them. The old ones had been headless, armless torsos on stands. These new ones had heads, arms, and, for some reason, legs. They didn’t have faces per se, but there was a suggestion of a nose and browline. Why did mannequins need jointed fingers anyway? And it wasn’t just the fingers; the arms and legs were jointed too, like a person’s. What was the point of that? Perhaps they were meant for displaying clothes rather than just working on them.

But, along with not being the sort of shopowner that used more than a single window display, Wilson had seemed rather confused about having them at all. He maintained that he hadn’t ordered any new mannequins. But, never one to waste an opportunity, Wilson had immediately put the old mannequins in storage and put the new, jointed ones to use earlier that week.

A noise from the basement jolted Rose out of her thoughts. It sounded like a small crash. Had Wilson come back and tripped on something?

“Wilson?” she called.

She left the mannequin and walked towards the stairs at the back of the shop. There was a cellar door that led from the alley into the basement, and Wilson had a key for the lock, but why wouldn’t he have come through one of the other doors?

“Wilson, is that you? I thought you were off home!”

Rose began to walk down the stairs.

“Wilson?”

Rose reached the bottom of the stairs, opened the door, and frowned. The basement was dark. She lit the lamp hanging on the wall, and what she saw only added to her confusion.

This couldn’t be right. The basement had at least twenty mannequins in it! Wilson had told her only five had come in the shipment he’d received!

One of the mannequins was sprawled on the floor. Near its feet was one of the many crates scattered about the basement.

Rose took a step back. This was silly. A mannequin couldn’t trip over a crate. Not unless—

The mannequin hauled itself up stiffly and turned to face her.

The mannequin could move.

Rose took a step back and bumped something. She spun around quickly, finding the stairs blocked by another mannequin.

The rest of the mannequins started to move jerkily, as if movement was unfamiliar to them. They began to step towards Rose.

Suddenly, a man in a black, hooded coat crashed through the cellar doors over the back wall of the basement. He was wrestling another wooden mannequin. Before Rose could process what in the world was going on, the mannequin burst into flame and flailed in apparent agony, allowing the man to throw it off, get up, and finish it with his sword.

“Thanks, Cära!” he called.

Then Rose’s line of sight was blocked by the mannequins closing in. The one in front raised its arm to bash her.

A sword slashed down, cutting the mannequin’s arm off. The man appeared at Rose’s side, grasping her hand tightly.

“Run!” he shouted, pulling her towards the stairs.

Rose didn’t protest and took the stairs two at a time to keep up with him.

“Watch out!” he exclaimed, swinging Rose around to one side and slashing down at the mannequin she had been working on earlier. Another mannequin was coming at them from the side. Rose wasn’t used to fighting, and she found herself unable to move for the fear.

Suddenly, the shop window shattered and a bird, wreathed in flame, flew in. The bird opened its beak and spat fire at the advancing mannequin. The mannequin immediately burst into flame. Rose looked at the bird in amazement.

Then, for a split second, the bird’s eyes locked with Rose’s, and time seemed to slow down. Then the bird gave a strange, melodious cry and almost looked like it was smiling at her. Rose’s fear suddenly evaporated, and she found herself grabbing the nearest thing to hand (it happened to be a wooden stool) and swinging it at the flaming mannequin’s head. The head popped off rather easily (probably due to the fire). The bird flew forward, talons outstretched, and finished the job.

The man grabbed Rose’s hand again and pulled her out of the shop.

The bird flew out after them. Once the man and Rose had run across the road, Rose heard an explosion. She whirled around to see the whole shop in flames.

Flames that the bird seemed to be purposely setting.

“Go around back!” the man shouted. “Set the basement on fire before they figure out how to climb out of there!”

The bird gave another cry and shot off around the back of the building.

“What are you doing?!” Rose demanded.

“It has to burn! Unless we burn the shop dummies, the magic on them will spread to other stuff in the town!”

Rose started.

“Magic,” she deadpanned.

The man looked at her as if _she_ was the insane one.

“Well, what else do you think was animating those dummies?!” he shot back.

Rose blinked. Then she shook her head.

“Right, never mind that. Where’s Wilson?”

“Who’s Wilson?”

“He owns the shop. I work for him.”

The man paused for half a second and looked slightly sad. “Wilson’s dead.”

“What?!”

“I found his body in an alley near the shop. There was nothing I could do. I’m sorry.” The man paused. “I did have Cära take his body across the river to the safe part of town, though, so that someone could bury it properly.”

He suddenly sheathed his sword and slung his arm around Rose’s shoulders, hurrying her along the street. “Speaking of the river, you need to get across it to safety. Take the nearest bridge to the west side of town and just wait this out. We should have this half of the town cleared out in about half an hour, then you lot can come back.”

Rose dug in her heels. “Wait, won’t they just follow me over the river?!”

The man was almost dragging her (he was even stronger than he looked). “No, cos my friend’ll lay down a fire barrier behind you. Just get yourself across the river. Leave this to us. And don’t send the local guard over or anything, they’ll just get in the way or get killed.”

He stopped, gave Rose a light shove in the direction of the bridge, and turned to leave. Then he paused and turned back for a second.

“I’m the Doctor, by the way. What’s your name?”

“Rose.”

He suddenly grinned. “Nice to meet you, Rose! Run for your life!”

And with that, the strangest man Rose had ever met ran off toward a burning building.

Rose stood there a moment, contemplating.

The man, the Doctor, had said it would be safe on the other side of the river. He had also saved her life. True, she was out of work and her boss was dead, but she was alive, right?

Alive and burning with a sudden curiosity. Who in the world was the Doctor? And why did he have a pyromaniac bird for a pet?!

Suddenly, something grabbed Rose’s shoulder. Just as quickly, it was yanked away. Rose spun around to see the Doctor’s bird dragging a mannequin backward and igniting it. The bird looked at Rose and let out a cry. Rose ran.

But not toward the bridge and safety. She was running off to find the Doctor. She didn’t know why, but she was burning to know who he was. And she had a sudden thought. There was no one in the streets. This was the half of town more devoted to shops and businesses, so most people had probably gone home to the other half for the night, but that didn’t mean that there weren’t still people about. The Doctor had said Wilson’s shop needed to burn to destroy the magic on the mannequins. Rose had a sinking suspicion that if Wilson had received shipments of secretly magic stuff he hadn’t ordered, so had the rest of the shopkeepers. She was going to ensure that the rest of them got out safely.

Rose immediately ran for the nearest shop, the butcher’s. She opened the door and expected to see the butcher, but instead the shop was full of mannequins. They were all walking towards the door. Rose realized that they weren’t moving as jerkily as the ones in Wilson’s shop had been. It was like they were learning. The magic must be getting stronger.

Someone grabbed Rose’s shoulder and pulled her back from the door.

She screamed, expecting a mannequin, but whoever grabbed her didn’t hold on. Instead, it shoved her away.

It was the Doctor. He picked up a bucket and flung the contents inside, then tossed the torch he was holding in after it. He slammed the door and grabbed Rose’s hand, pulling her away as the interior of the shop burst into flame.

“I swear, you’re the most jeopardy-friendly human I’ve ever met!” the Doctor exclaimed, as they ran. “What part of fire and deadly mannequins did you not understand?!”

Rose pulled away. “I came back to help! There’ve got to be people round here who haven’t got out of their shops yet! I thought I could warn them!”

“Did you not think about the very real possibility of you dying? I told you to get across the river where it’s safe!”

“Wilson’s dead! I didn’t want to just sit and let anyone else die if I could help! You missed me until you fell into that basement! Who else might you have missed?!”

The Doctor suddenly stopped. His face broke into a grin.

“You know what, you’re right. Come with me and we’ll finish this together!”

The Doctor ran down the road, with Rose following close behind.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“We’re going to work our way to the outskirts of the east side! It’s not that big a town. Open the door of every building you can find, yell for anyone inside to get out, and if you see any shop dummies, light ‘em up!”

“How am I gonna do that?!”

The Doctor suddenly stopped and held out his arm to stop Rose.

“Never mind, looks like they’re coming to us,” he said.

Rose looked ahead and froze. Ambling toward them were at least thirty mannequins. The Doctor’s hand flew to the hilt of his sword, but his eyes were darting all over the town. Rose guessed he was looking for something they could use to even the odds.

“What’d you use last time?! What was in the bucket?!” Rose exclaimed.

“Oil!”

“Where’d you get oil from?!”  
“Well, it won’t do us much good now! That was the only bucket I found!”

The bird came back and landed on the Doctor’s shoulder. It stared at the Doctor intently for a few seconds, and then the Doctor looked at Rose again.

“Right! Here’s the plan! There’s too many for us to fight, so Cära’a gonna lay down a barrier of fire. She’ll keep them contained as best she can.” As he said this, the bird leapt off his shoulder and ignited her feathers. She swooped down ahead of the advancing mannequins and, glowing a strange red, she dragged the tip of one wing along the road, leaving a trail of red flame that sprung up in a fiery wall in front of the shop dummies.

As the bird created a circle of flame around the dummies, the Doctor continued, “The barrier won’t hold them forever. The magic on them is learning. It’s already making the wood more resistant to flame. We’re gonna need something to help us burn them faster.” The Doctor drew his sword again. “I’ll go after any stragglers. You go find a lot of something flammable to toss in there with them! Try the local tavern! Hurry!”

Rose nodded and ran off to the tavern.

It didn’t take her long to get there, and luckily, it was empty. Rose mentally apologized to the owner for stealing, but she had a feeling that no one would really mind under these circumstances. Rose had a hurried look at the tavern’s wares. She couldn’t carry beer because it was in a large barrel, and there wasn’t enough of anything stronger to really bother with. The wine rack, however, looked promising.

Rose grabbed as many full bottles of wine as she could carry, but she had a feeling that six wouldn’t be enough. She put them down, ran to the tavern’s back room, and found a burlap sack. She managed to cram in all six bottles plus four more, which was as many as she thought she’d still be able to run with. Then she put the bag over her shoulder and ran as fast as she could back to the Doctor.

When Rose showed the Doctor the wine bottles, he grinned.

“Fantastic.”

The bird came back within seconds of him saying this, and the Doctor grabbed the bag of wine bottles. The bird clasped its talons around a pair of thick leather loops on his back that Rose had not noticed before. Then the bird lifted him, with no difficulty, into the air. The pair of them sped off and began circling over the mannequins, the Doctor dropping bottles of wine and the bird spitting balls of flame. Rose watched, awestruck, and wondered how the flames of the bird’s feathers didn’t seem to be burning the Doctor’s coat.

Finally, the bird dropped the Doctor next to Rose. Then the bird landed several yards in front of them, raised its wings, and began to glow the same red as the barrier of flames. The Doctor grabbed Rose’s shoulders and put a hand on her head, forcing her to duck as he shielded her under his coat.

There was an explosion and a blast of heat.

After a moment, the Doctor gently pulled Rose back into a standing position. He was grinning as tiny bits of charred wood began to fall down around them.

“Sorry about that. Wasn’t sure how strong a spell Cära would have to use to destroy them. Not burned are you? My coat’s fireproof, but it’s not quite big enough to cover both of us.”

Rose dusted herself off.

“No, I think I’m fine,” she said. “...But seriously, what just happened?”

“They were ordinary wooden mannequins with an animation spell on them, and a nasty one at that,” the Doctor said. “The wooden bodies were imbued with magic, but animation spells like that often have to learn as they go. Their main objective was to seek out people and kill them. But they didn’t understand obstacles like crates and doors and walls of flame, so they had to learn. As long as we burned them before they could learn anything new, they wouldn’t be much of a threat.”

“They killed Wilson,” Rose said.

The Doctor looked at the ground, his grin gone.

“Yeah, I know. We couldn’t get to all of the mannequins quick enough. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

He met Rose’s eyes again, and just as he was about to speak, the bird landed on his shoulder again, flames extinguished. It was carrying a battered, dark blue rucksack in its beak. It dropped the rucksack into the Doctor’s hands, looked at him meaningfully, and gave a cry.

His grin returned.

“The good news is, we managed to destroy them all before the magic could spread to anything more dangerous or find a way to make the dummies even harder to destroy. It’s over,” he said, putting his arms through the straps of the rucksack.

“...Right, okay,” Rose said, still in a bit of shock.

The Doctor’s hood had fallen back, revealing a rather ordinary-looking man. He had a large nose and large ears, close-cropped brownish hair, the beginnings of a beard, and blue eyes. He was fairly tall, and it was hard to tell how wide he really was because of his thick leather coat and leather armor. Rose thought he might be in his forties.

...An ordinary, forty-something-year-old man with a flaming bird fighting evil shop dummies? Something wasn’t adding up.

“What are you?” Rose asked, and as soon as she said it, she realized the question sounded incredibly rude. But he didn’t seem all that offended.

“Just a ranger from the north,” he said, as if that explained everything. “My friend and I wandered into town and felt something off, so we thought we’d sort it before we left.”

The Doctor shook Rose’s hand. “Pleasure working with you, Rose.” He smiled. “Now forget us. Go home.”

And with that, he turned and walked off with the bird still perched on his shoulder.

“Hold on! You can’t just leave me here!” Rose exclaimed, hurrying after him.

The Doctor looked at Rose but did not slow down.

“The west half of the town is fine. The fires won’t have spread that far. You can find a place to stay and a new job. You get a happy ending,” he said.

“The west half doesn’t have any shops! It’s all houses and pasture! Where am I supposed to get a job?”

“Oh… I didn’t think of that,” he admitted.

The bird gave a soft chirp and the Doctor looked at it. After a few moments, he looked back at Rose.

“Got any family nearby?” he asked.

“My mum lives in Peckham. It’s a town to the east, about a four-day walk from here.”

The Doctor pressed his lips together, apparently thinking (and not looking too happy about whatever he was thinking of).

The bird gave him what looked like a hard stare, and the Doctor rolled his eyes.

“Fine. Suppose I can’t just let you walk there by yourself, jeopardy-friendly as you seem to be—”

“Hey!”

“—so we’ll accompany you back to your mum. Seem agreeable to you?” he asked, giving her a half-smile.

Rose smiled back. “Yes.”

The bird suddenly leapt off the Doctor’s shoulder and shot off into the sky.

“Oi! Where’re you going now?!” he called after it. Then he shook his head. “Come on, then. Let’s get on the road. She’ll find us when she wants to come back.”

“Shouldn’t we start out in the morning?” Rose asked.

“Are you tired?”

“Well, no, but—”

“Then we go now. I’ll let you rest once we put some distance between us and the town. I’ve got a tent you can use and everything.”

“Wouldn’t an inn be safer?”

The Doctor stopped and looked at her with his sharp blue eyes. Rose stopped too, feeling just a tad afraid of his sudden intensity.

“Miss Rose, I’m a ranger,” he said. “I know how to keep safe in the wild. If I’m escorting you home, you’re going to have to do things my way.”

Rose swallowed her remaining protests and nodded. He seemed more insulted and impatient than dangerous, and she didn’t think he was lying about being able to keep her safe. But for less than a second, his eyes had seemed to be red like hot coals.

The Doctor suddenly smiled, eyes blue and any anger gone. “Fantastic. Let’s get going, then.”

Suddenly, the bird landed on the Doctor’s shoulder again. It gave a triumphant cry before flapping off again. The Doctor began to run after it, and Rose had no choice but to follow. The bird led them down a road and through an alley, stopping at a stable behind a house. In the stable was a large horse, and there was a wagon nearby. The bird was perched on the horse’s head, and the horse didn’t seem to mind at all.

“Oh, I suppose you’re very pleased with yourself,” the Doctor said. He gently patted the horse’s nose and smiled at the bird. “And you’ve a right to be. Thanks.”

The bird seemed to nod and look very pleased with itself indeed. Then it leapt off the horse and flew away.

“Cära’s going to scout ahead, just to be sure we won’t run into any trouble on the road. Help me hitch Arthur up.”

Rose raised an eyebrow. “Did you just name the horse?”

“Course not! That _is_ his name!”

Rose decided not to argue and went off to find the horse’s yoke. She was glad that she’d helped hitch up her friend Mickey’s cart horse back home enough to be of help.

As she reached for the yoke, she recognized the initials stamped on it. She looked back at the horse, realizing it had a familiar palomino coat and stout, strong legs.

“This is Wilson’s horse,” she said.

“So?” The Doctor had come up behind her and was grabbing the yoke.

“So we can’t just take it!” she protested.

“Does Wilson have a family?” the Doctor asked.

“What?”

“Does he have a family?”

“Well, no, but—”  
“But nothing. Wilson’s dead and he hasn’t got a family. We can’t do anything for him now, and who knows what’ll happen to this horse in the meantime.” The Doctor took the yoke, marched off to the horse, and slipped it gently over the horse’s head. “Besides, Cära said Arthur would like to travel.”

Rose decided not to argue (or ask why he seemed to think his bird could talk) and picked up the rest of the harness.

Soon, Arthur was hitched to the wagon and Rose was sitting next to the Doctor in the driving seat. They quickly left the town and found the main road going east. The Doctor had said it would be about a two day ride to Peckham, but had fallen into silence as soon as the town was about a hundred yards behind them.

After a bit, Rose decided to try conversation.

“So you’re a traveler, then?”

“Sort of, yeah.”

“Where’re you travelling to?”

The Doctor shrugged. “All over the place.”

Before Rose could ask anything else, the Doctor asked her about her job in the shop and about her family. Rose told him that she had been living in the loft above the shop and that Wilson had been teaching his craft to her in addition to her being his assistant and minding the shop for him.

“Mum told me to get a job, so I thought I’d try to see a bit more of the world than just Peckham while I was at it.”

The Doctor smiled when she said that.

“What about you?” Rose asked.

“Told you, m’just a ranger from the north.”

“What sort of ranger calls himself ‘Doctor?!’”

“I do! I’m a ranger called the Doctor, alright?”

“Come on, don’t give me that! You’re keepin’ somethin’ from me and I deserve to know what it is!”

The Doctor scoffed. “You don’t ‘deserve’ anything! As I recall, I agreed to take you back to your mother, end of story!”

“Yeah, cos you and your bird blew up my job!”

“She’s not my bird!”

“Whatever! I’m riding in a wagon with a strange man who saved me from shop dummies! Just tell me who you are! It’ll make me feel a bit better!”

“Well, it’s not as if you’d believe me!”

“You’re friends with a bird who seems to be able to set things on fire whenever she bloomin’ well pleases! How much weirder can _you_ possibly be?!”

The Doctor set his jaw and refused to look at Rose.

Finally, Rose took a deep breath.

“Fine. I’ll stop pesterin’.” She tried to meet his eyes, but he kept them firmly fixed on the road. She kept talking anyway.

“Thanks again, though,” she said, “for savin’ me. And for the ride.”

The Doctor glanced at her and gave a small nod. Then he went back to driving. Rose decided to give him some space and managed to climb into the back of the wagon.

Finally, the Doctor’s bird came back. It— _she_ , Rose remembered—perched on the seat next him and the two of them sat in what seemed like silence. But as she watched them, Rose realized that the Doctor was nodding and talking quietly to the bird. Under any other circumstances, Rose would have assumed it was just a man talking nonsense to his pet, or even airing his frustrations about Rose to the bird. But there were definite pauses where it seemed like the Doctor was actually _listening_ to the bird! And not just pretending to listen, but listening intently to the bird’s side of the conversation.

Suddenly, the bird leapt off the driving seat and down into the bed of the wagon in front of Rose. Rose had the distinct feeling that the bird was sizing her up.

The bird was the size of a hawk, but with a longer neck, giving her the appearance of a rather dangerous peacock. She had reddish-gold feathers, fading to a fiery orange at the edges of her wings and tail, as well as on the ruff of feathers around her head. Her eyes were a bright gold, and it was a bit unnerving how human they seemed. The bird stepped closer to Rose, and Rose was torn between holding her ground and moving to avoid any attacks from the bird’s sharp-looking beak.

But the bird let out a soft sound, like a gentle, more musical version of an eagle’s cry, and Rose suddenly felt much more at ease.

The Doctor looked briefly back at them.

“She likes you,” he said.

Rose attempted to stroke the bird’s feathers, but the bird ducked away, looking cross rather than afraid.

“She’s beautiful,” Rose said, withdrawing her hand. “How long’ve you had her?”

The bird gave an indignant-sounding cry.

“Told you, she’s not my bird,” the Doctor replied.

“Does that mean she’s wild?”

“Sort of, yeah.”

The bird turned towards the Doctor and gave the cry again, but shorter and angrier.

“Oh, hush, would you rather I tell her you’re a domesticated pet or something?”

A few sparks flew off the bird’s tail feathers with a crackling noise like a campfire. The Doctor turned, not looking alarmed (which was how Rose felt) but instead looking a bit sheepish.

“Right, you’re right, stop digging a deeper hole for myself,” the Doctor said. “Just don’t light this wagon on fire, alright? I don’t think Arthur will like that.”

The sparking stopped, and the bird settled down across from Rose and began preening her feathers.

The Doctor returned his attention to driving the wagon.

“So, what d’you mean, she’s not your bird?” Rose asked.

“Exactly that. Cära is not my bird. She’s my friend. And before you ask, no, it’s not like she’s my pet that I call my friend. I mean she really is my friend. She’s an intelligent being who travels with me of her own free will. Don’t treat her like a pet if you value your eyebrows.”

“What kind of bird is she?”

“She’s a phoenix,” the Doctor said.

Rose’s eyes widened, and she felt stupid for not realizing that sooner (but, to be fair, it had been a stressful situation and she had been more focused on staying alive than on the bird’s species).

“I’ve heard about those, but I didn’t think they were real,” Rose said, trying to remember what her books of legends had said about phoenixes.

“As real as can be,” the Doctor said. “Just rare and a bit secretive.”

“So how’d you get one?”

“Told you, I didn’t _get_ her. She found me a long time ago and took a liking to me, I guess. We became traveling companions.”

“A phoenix… That explains how she lifted you so easily,” Rose murmured. “And her feathers being on fire.”

Then Rose frowned.

“But why’s she so small? I thought phoenixes were at least the size of swans.”

The Doctor turned to look at her with a raised eyebrow.

“Oi! How many phoenixes have you seen lately?”

“Just the one,” Rose admitted.

“Great as legends are, they don’t always get it right,” the Doctor said, turning back to the road.

They rode on in silence for a bit, and then Rose realized something else.

“In the shop, I had no idea what I was doing,” she said. “I’ve never been in a real fight in my life. But then she—” Rose gestured at the phoenix, who was now grooming her long tail feathers, “—came in and—”

“—It was like you suddenly knew what to do?” the Doctor asked.

“Yeah! And she did it again when she landed in the wagon! Does she have some kind of mind control or something?!”

The Doctor chuckled.

“No, not even close. But the song of a phoenix is magical. It can strike fear into enemies and give allies courage. She saw that you needed to defend yourself and she gave you a boost of courage so that you could. You did everything of your own free will. Cära just helped. And when she did it again, she was just trying to assure you that you’re safe.”

“Oh,” Rose said. “Thanks.”

“Don’t tell me that. Tell her that,” he replied.

Rose looked at Cära, who had stopped preening her feathers and was now looking at her.

“Thanks, Cära,” Rose said.

Cära dipped her head in acknowledgement and seemed to smile.

-0-O-0-

Night had almost fallen. The barest hint of sunlight clung to the horizon, but the first stars were beginning to appear. The Doctor had pulled a lantern out at some point (Rose had no idea where he’d gotten it), so they weren’t traveling in darkness. Cära had lit it and then hopped back onto the Doctor’s shoulder.

After a bit, the Doctor said, “Right. We’ve gone far enough. Time to make camp.”

The Doctor tugged on Arthur’s reins and the horse stopped. He hopped down from the driving seat and guided Arthur by the bridle off the main road and over to one of the sparse trees about a hundred yards off to the side. When they stopped, Rose managed to get out and onto the ground unassisted and took the lantern from the driving seat with her.

The Doctor unhitched Arthur and tied his reins to a tree, giving the horse enough slack to feed on the grass. Then the Doctor got his rucksack from the wagon and pulled out the pieces for a tent, a bed roll, a loaf of bread, and some cheese.

Rose stared in disbelief.

“How’d you fit all that in there?”

The Doctor smiled.

“Magic, of course,” he said.

“So it’s bigger on the inside?”

“That about sums it up, yeah. Makes packing easier and hardly weighs a thing.”

That explained where he got the lantern.

The Doctor took the lantern, set it down, and pulled out a small bundle of kindling from his rucksack. He handed it to Rose, along with a flint and steel.

“Go on, get a fire going while I set up the tent.”

Rose nodded, but frowned internally. She’d lit plenty of fires before, but never a campfire.

Then she had a thought and wondered if the Doctor was trying to make her look stupid.

“Can’t Cära just light it?”

“Do you see Cära round here?” he deadpanned.

Rose looked around and realized that the phoenix was gone.

The Doctor nodded, with a “See? Told you so” look on his face.

“Can’t always rely on her to be here for little things like campfires,” he said. “And it’s always good to know how to light one yourself. Never know when you might need that skill. Get a fire going as best you can. We don’t need a big one, just enough to keep any animals away and give us some light.”

A small bunch of tree branches suddenly thunked down next to Rose and she jumped a bit.

Cära landed on top of the branches and let out a cry, seeming to smile.

“Is that what you were off doing?” Rose asked.

She didn’t expect an answer, but Cära nodded and then flapped off, presumably to go and get more wood.

“I thought phoenixes were really, really strong,” Rose said, eyeing the rather small amount of firewood the bird had brought and remembering how she had lifted the Doctor with minimal effort earlier.

“She is,” the Doctor said, without looking up from his work. “It’s a matter of grip. Her talons aren’t big enough for larger loads.” He gestured at his back. “S’why I’ve got these loops on the back of my coat. Helps her grip.”

Cära came back with more wood and then began to scratch out a circle on the ground with her talons. Once she finished, she nodded at it meaningfully.

“Oh!” Rose smiled and began piling kindling and sticks inside the ring.

“Think you can help me find some stones?” Rose asked. She may never have lit a campfire, but she knew what they were supposed to look like.

Cära nodded, but rather than fly off into the night, she flapped over to the Doctor’s rucksack and climbed inside. She emerged a few moments later, holding a sack in her beak. She dropped it next to Rose and gestured for Rose to open the sack.

It was full of smooth, fist-sized river stones.

“Oh, I get it! You can’t always know if there’ll be rocks for a fire ring, so you carry your own!” Rose said.

Cära gave a cry that sounded pleased.

Rose finished lighting the fire as the Doctor finished the tent. He nodded.

“Good work. We’ll eat and then you can get some sleep.”

They sat down near the fire, and the Doctor handed Rose a slice of bread and a hunk of cheese. Then he speared a piece of bread on a stick and held it near the flames.

“What are you doing?” Rose asked.

The Doctor looked at her as if it was completely obvious.

“Making toast. You gonna talk or are you gonna eat?”

Rose swallowed and started to eat, but she watched the Doctor as she did so. He paid her no mind. Once his toast was finished, he pulled it off the stick. But rather than eat it himself, he handed it to Cära.

Cära took it in the talons of her right foot and stood on her left foot. She bent her neck down a bit and began to eat, looking extremely human for a bird.

Once she had started, the Doctor got a piece of bread and some cheese for himself and ate as though this was completely normal.

Rose tried not to stare at the bird, but she couldn’t help but wonder for the umpteenth time what kind of man—and bird—she had decided to travel with.

Once they were done eating, the Doctor pointed to the tent with his thumb.

“Right. Bedroll’s in there. See you in the morning.”

As Rose got up, the Doctor pulled a black bow and a quiver of arrows out of his rucksack.

“What’re those for?” Rose asked.

“Insurance,” he said, looking rather serious.

“You think something’s gonna come after us?”

The Doctor looked away. “Rose, I’ve been wandering the world for a long time now. I know from experience it’s better to be prepared.” He nodded at the tent. “Get some sleep. We leave at sunrise.”

“What about you?”

“Don’t need much sleep, me. Go on, get your beauty rest.”

Rose swallowed her protests and crawled into the small tent. She pulled her hair out of the work bun she kept it in and made herself as comfortable as she could in the bedroll (it was actually quite nice, but still not as nice as a real bed). She soon drifted off to the sounds of a softly crackling campfire and the Doctor talking quietly to Cära.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I got the idea for this fic when I saw some fan art of the MCU Avengers as D&D characters, and the image of Nine dressed as a Ranger in an Assassin's Creed-style leather duster stuck with me. Stay tuned for more updates and more Doctors!


	2. On the Road

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose continues her journey home to Peckham with the Doctor and Cära. But, because this is Doctor Who, things probably won't go according to plan...

Rose felt something poking her shoulder. It was gentle but firm and insistent. She tried to swat whatever it was away, but the thing poking her let out an indignant cry.

Rose sat bolt upright and found a red bird the size of a hawk staring at her with golden eyes. The events of the previous day came back in a rush.

Cära hopped once and gave another cry, and Rose took this to mean that it was time to get up. Then she realized how bright it was inside the tent.

She rushed outside and scrambled to her feet. It had to be at least an hour after sunrise, and the Doctor had said they would be leaving _at_ sunrise.

To her surprise, the Doctor was not angry. He did seem a tad grumpy, but not with her.

“Cära said we should let you sleep a bit longer, seeing as you’re not used to this,” he explained.

The bird in question had gone inside the rucksack again. She emerged holding a brush in her beak. She flapped onto Rose’s shoulder and offered her the brush. Rose took it gratefully, knowing her hair must be a mess. As soon as she did this, Cära leapt off her shoulder and back into the rucksack. This time, she came out with a small mirror.

Rose grinned. “Thanks, Cära.”

The bird dipped her head in acknowledgement. Then, to Rose’s astonishment, Cära flew over to Arthur and began hitching the horse up for their journey. She wasn’t quite as efficient at it as a human, but she wasn’t doing too badly either, using her talons and beak like hands. The Doctor, meanwhile, began to take down the tent.

“Hurry up!’ he chided, when he caught Rose watching him.

Rose quickly brushed out her hair and pulled it back into the bun she usually did for work. Then she put the brush and mirror into the pockets of her apron and got to work helping the Doctor and Cära break camp. The fire was cold and had dirt and ashes kicked over it, so Rose gathered up the stones from the fire ring and put them in the waiting bag. The Doctor gave Rose some bread and an apple for breakfast, cut an apple in pieces for Cära, and then ate some bread and an apple himself. Then he and Rose finished packing his rucksack and tossed it into the wagon.

Soon, they were back on the main road, with the Doctor in the driving seat and Rose in the wagon bed again. Cära joined her, rather than sit next to the Doctor.

The Doctor didn’t seem to want to talk, and Cära kept looking at Rose and then looking away, her feathers a strange, dull red color rather than the bright red from earlier.

“Did I do something wrong?” Rose finally asked.

Cära immediately shook her head and gave a cry, but that seemed to make her more upset. She turned to the Doctor and let out another cry.

The Doctor sighed.

“No, I’m just an impatient git,” he said. “M’not used to traveling with anyone but Cära, and she had to remind me that you’re not used to traveling with me.”

He seemed to anticipate Rose’s next question.

“And Cära’s frustrated because she can’t talk to you. She wanted to tell you all that herself, but she can’t.”

Rose pondered this. “How can she communicate with you, then?” she asked. “I mean, I’ve seen you talking with her.”

“Long story,” the Doctor said.

Rose didn’t have to ask to know he didn’t want to talk about it, and Cära made no move to chastise him about avoiding the question, so she obviously didn’t want him to talk about it either.

After a moment, Cära shook out her feathers and stuck her head into the rucksack. She pulled it back out, holding a deck of cards in her beak. She looked at Rose hopefully.

Rose smiled, took the deck, and dealt out a game. She and Cära played for awhile, and despite there not being much of a conversation, Rose enjoyed it. The Doctor didn’t speak, but Rose caught him looking back at them several times. He was smiling.

Eventually, though, Cära seemed to be getting a bit agitated.

She looked at the Doctor and gave a cry. The Doctor looked back and frowned.

“What is it?” Rose asked, speaking directly to Cära. “Are you tired of this game?”

“No, that’s not it,” the Doctor said. “She says she senses something off.”

Cära gave another cry and leapt up onto the side of the wagon.

“She says she’s going for a look round,” the Doctor said.

Cära nodded and flew off into the blue.

“Something wrong?” Rose asked.

The Doctor had turned back to driving.

“Maybe,” he said. “Hand me my rucksack, will you?”

Rose did so, and the Doctor dug around in it for a moment until he found what he was looking for. It was a thin-necked glass bottle filled with what looked like amber-colored sugar. He handed it to Rose.

“Sprinkle that on the back of the wagon,” he said.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Precaution,” he said. “It’s like a magic forcefield. Just do a thin line around the edges of the wagon.”

Rose frowned. “You think we’re gonna be attacked.” It wasn’t a question.

“We might not be. Like I said, it’s a precaution.”

Rose took the bottle and began to sprinkle a thin line on the sides of the wagon and along the back edge. As soon as the tiny crystals made contact with the wood, they disappeared after a brief orange glow.

When she had finished, Rose settled back against the side of the wagon. It was a nice warm day. She was still a bit tired from the night before, and despite being a bit worried about something attacking them, she eventually dozed off.

-0-O-0-

Rose was jolted wide awake as the wagon suddenly began to move faster.

“Rose, wake up! We’re being followed!” the Doctor exclaimed.

“By what?!”

But she needn’t have asked.

There was nothing on the road, but there was something in the air. Rose could see ten large, winged creatures flying after them. Flying between the creatures, snapping at them and shooting off jets of flame, was Cära, her feathers ablaze.

But the creatures, whatever they were, were far larger than she was, and although she was distracting them for the moment, there were too many for her to deal with. One of them broke away and swooped towards the wagon.

Rose scrambled back and put her arms up to protect herself, but the creature fell back with a cry of pain. The air shimmered with orange for a moment where it had hit.

“Take the reins!” the Doctor yelled.

Already he was climbing into the back of the wagon. Rose hurriedly took the driving seat and Arthur’s reins and urged the horse onward.

When she looked back, she saw the Doctor standing in the bed of the wagon, firing arrows from his black bow. Two of the creatures fell dead on the road behind them.

Rose quickly snapped her attention back to the road, but Arthur gave a sudden whinny of fear and Rose screamed.

In front of them was one of the creatures.

There was a high-pitched whistling noise, rather like a firework, and Cära suddenly cannoned into the creature at full speed, knocking it aside. She immediately began tearing at it with her talons and spitting flames in its face.

The wagon was safe from the creature, but Arthur had been thoroughly spooked and turned off the road. Luckily, the surrounding area was mostly hills and grassland, but Rose and the Doctor were still in an out-of-control wagon going full speed behind a terrified draft horse.

Rose heard Cära’s melodious cry again and felt suddenly calmer. Arthur seemed to be calming a bit too. His running was becoming less frantic and, after another cry from Cära, he gradually began to run back to the road.

Rose looked back, and to her horror realized that the Doctor had been thrown from the wagon. However, he was quickly getting to his feet and still firing arrows at the attacking creatures. Two more had fallen dead nearby. Cära was with him, guarding him from behind and spitting jets of flame. Rose hauled back on the reins to pull Arthur to a stop. The creatures had stopped following the wagon and were instead focusing on the Doctor and Cära.

Rose could feel her heart pounding in fear, but she wasn’t going to abandon the two strangers who had saved her.

Rose scrambled into the bed of the wagon and dug into the Doctor’s rucksack for a weapon. She wasn’t sure what she was hoping for, and she wasn’t a trained fighter, but anything was better than her bare hands.

Her hand closed around a handle, and she pulled out a short sword. It didn’t look terribly threatening, but at least it was sharp and she could lift it easily. A few small, shiny, purple balls, roughly the size of eggs, fell out of the rucksack too. Rose grabbed them and put them in one of her apron pockets, figuring that she could throw them at the creatures. Perhaps that would distract them long enough for the Doctor to finish them off.

Swallowing her fear, Rose leapt from the wagon, hoping Arthur would stay put, and ran into the fray.

Rose hurled one of the purple balls at a creature once she was close enough. It didn’t hit the thing, but Cära spat a jet of flame and the ball exploded, engulfing the creature in purple flames.

Cära gave a triumphant cry, and Rose threw another one at a different creature, with the same result. Rose heard a hair-raising shriek behind her and turned to see that the Doctor had downed another creature with an arrow, but the arrow was lodged in a wing, so it wasn’t dead.

The Doctor was about to finish it off but another creature swooped down towards him, claws outstretched. The Doctor turned and took aim at it. However, the one the Doctor had already shot was clawing its way onto its feet so that it could attack him from the ground.

Rose ran forward with a yell and drove the short sword into the grounded creature’s chest. It gave a cry of agony and fell lifeless to the ground. There was another cry behind her, and she figured that the Doctor had killed the other one.

Rose stood there for a moment in shock, but a cry from Cära snapped her out of it. She threw one last purple ball and Cära lit it. The final creature exploded in purple flames, and all was quiet.

Rose turned to the Doctor. He straightened up.

“That was stupid of you,” he said. “You could’ve been killed.”

Then he grinned. “Thanks for the help. Not bad, considering.”

“Considering what?”

“That you’re not a warrior.”

Rose wasn’t sure if she should be offended or proud.

“Nice work with the berries, by the way,” the Doctor continued. “I didn’t think to get those. They’re more powerful than Cära’s normal fire blasts.” He turned to Cära. “But I think those were our last ones. We’ll have to get more from Capaldi.”

“...Berries?! I was throwing berries?!” Rose exclaimed.

The Doctor chuckled. “Not exactly. We’ve got a friend that we get potions and stuff from. Awhile back, he found a type of berry with weirdly flammable juice. With the right bit of jiggery-pokery, they make some powerful fire-bombs.” He grinned again. “Don’t taste half bad either.”

Rose found herself grinning right back at him.

Then she sobered. 

“You’re not hurt, are you?” she asked.

“Nah,” he said. “That’s what armor’s for. Mind you, I could’ve done without landing on that rock.”

Cära landed on his shoulder and gave a concerned cry.

“No, really, I’m fine,” the Doctor said to her. “Honest. I might have a bit of bruising, but the armor took the worst of it.”

Cära nodded and flapped onto Rose’s shoulder. Rose was pleased to find that the phoenix’s sharp talons didn’t hurt her at all.

“Cära wants to make sure you’re okay,” the Doctor explained. “Sometimes you can’t feel injuries until a couple of hours after a battle. You didn’t fall or anything, right?”

Rose shook her head, and Cära nodded before going back to the Doctor’s shoulder.

“What were those things?” Rose asked.

But the Doctor wasn’t paying attention to her now. He walked over to the creature Rose had killed and pulled the sword out. Rose walked over to it too, feeling cautious despite the fact that the thing was dead.

It was like some kind of reptilian bat—not a dragon, but something more akin to a lizard’s head and hind legs on the body of a bat, all covered in red scales. It was about 4 feet long, 8 feet including the tail, and the weirdest thing of all was the strange pieces of dark metal protruding from its skin. It had metal claws on its feet and metal spikes down its back, and plates of metal over its chest. The wings seemed to be affixed to the body with metal too, and closer inspection revealed that the creature’s skin was stretched between metal poles, not bone, to make the wings.

“It’s part automaton,” the Doctor said, looking disgusted. “Like machines and beasts rolled into one. Nasty.”

Cära gave a cry and jerked her head at Rose.

The Doctor turned to Rose.

“Right, sorry. To answer your question, we’ve never seen these before. Seen stuff like them, but never these exact ones.”

Suddenly, a jet of red sparks shot out of the dead creature’s chest. The sparks flew up at least a hundred feet in the air before exploding with several loud bangs.

The Doctor growled in frustration.

“Oh, that’s just great! They’re hunting us! Even if no one saw that, if there are any more of these things within ten miles of this one, they’ll smell the magic from that flare and come looking for us.”

The Doctor swallowed and looked a bit uncomfortable.

“It won’t be safe to stay on the road tonight, especially with us running low on potions. Rose, I know I promised to get you home, but we won’t reach Peckham until tomorrow around midday. We’re going to have to find somewhere to spend the night.”

Rose’s eyes widened. “Do you have somewhere in mind?”

The Doctor nodded. “Yeah, there’s a town I know. But we won’t reach it until nearly sunset, and we’ll have to turn northeast. We’ll be delayed getting you home.”

A small part of Rose was pleased at the possibility of being able to sleep in a real bed, but a larger part of her was worried. Her mother had no idea what had happened with Rose’s job, and she had no idea Rose was traveling. What if news reached her that Rose was missing? And while Rose was elated at the fact that she had been able to help the Doctor fight off those creatures, she knew that she was still just an ordinary girl with no combat training.

The Doctor put a hand on her shoulder.

“Rose, I’ll do my best to keep you safe,” he said, seeming to read her mind. “You have my word.”

Rose nodded, and the Doctor gave her a small smile.

“Right, let’s go find Arthur and get back on the road,” he said.


	3. More Trouble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Rose, the Doctor, and Cära continue their journey to Peckham, they are once again delayed, this time by a certain cheeky con-man (wink-wink). He tells them that a witch has been terrorizing the surrounding area, and the adventurers (of course) decide to take care of that before completing their main quest.  
> {Sidequesting Intensifies}
> 
> This chapter guest-stars Donna Noble and Martha Jones, and features appearances by the Twelfth Doctor and Clara Oswald.

After Cära calmed Arthur down and convinced him to get back on the road, they started heading northeast at a trot. The Doctor had given Rose some bread and dried meat for lunch, but there hadn’t been much conversation since the lizard-bat fiasco. It was now late afternoon, and they were rolling along on a trail through the outskirts of some woods.

“Heyyy! Doctor!” someone called.

Rose looked around for the source.

“Oh, no,” the Doctor groaned, flicking Arthur’s reins to spur him into a faster trot.

Cära, who had been sitting with Rose again, suddenly began to look unhappy too. Her feathers bristled.

“Are we under attack again?” Rose asked. She put a hand on the hilt of the short sword she had used earlier. The Doctor had given her a scabbard and belt for it and told her she could keep it while she was with them, just in case.

“Might as well be,” the Doctor grumbled.

“Doctorrrr!” came the voice again. Rose could see a figure running towards them through the trees.

“DOCTOR!!!!”

The figure sprinted toward the side of the wagon and grabbed on. It began to haul itself in. Rose was shocked to see that it was a cat the size of a man, dressed in a pale blue shirt, dark trousers, and a dark grey cloak.

“Go away!” the Doctor exclaimed, flicking the reins again. Arthur was nearly at a canter now.

“Hey, I need your help! Come on! Let me in!”

“Fat chance of that!” the Doctor exclaimed.

“This isn’t a con, I swear!”

“Oh, sure! Like we’d believe that! Beat it, before Cära lights your whiskers on fire!”

Cära leapt onto the side of the wagon—right above the cat-man’s face—and ignited her feathers, giving an angry, threatening cry.

“Please, you two!” the cat-man begged. “I really, really need your help this time!”

Cära stared directly into the cat-thing’s eyes for about ten seconds. Finally, the flames died away and she stepped aside to allow the cat-man to haul himself into the wagon. Rose noticed that neither she nor the Doctor made a move to help him, but they didn’t try to throw him out either.

The cat-man settled himself in the wagon and, as soon as he saw Rose, he flashed her a dazzling grin.

“Jack Harkness, at your service,” he said, offering her his paw-hand.

“Oh, shut up, you’re only ever at your own service,” the Doctor said, as Rose nervously shook Jack’s hand.

“Wait, I thought we had a force field on the wagon,” Rose said. “How’d he get in?”

“They wear off after a couple of hours,” the Doctor grumbled.

“And I’m just insanely lucky like that,” Jack said with a grin.

Jack, Rose had realized, was a Tabaxi, a cat-person. Not many of them lived in Peckham, but they passed through quite frequently, so Rose at least knew what they were. Jack was really quite handsome, for a cat-man. His dark grey and white tabby fur was long and glossy, and his large, pointed ears made him look just a bit more like a wildcat than a housecat.

“What do you want, Jack?” the Doctor asked.

“Hey, not everything is about me, okay?” Jack huffed. “Word on the street is people have started disappearing after they go into the woods. And in Chiswick, the nearest town, there’ve been reports of a witch.”

“How do they know it’s a witch?” Rose asked.

“Oh, the usual. Strange lights coming from the deep woods, family members going missing, people being terrified, that kind of thing,” Jack said.

“Not all witches are bad. And it might not be a witch,” the Doctor said.

Jack suddenly sobered. “Umm... no, it’s definitely a witch and she’s definitely bad. She, uh...”

Jack’s voice became very quiet.

“...she stole my tail.”

Cära had stopped looking grumpy when Jack mentioned a witch and now looked downright concerned. She made a soft churring noise.

“Did she cut it off with magic?” the Doctor translated.

“Yeah. Just, ZAP, on my butt and my tail was gone. It hurt pretty bad.” Jack gestured to his cloak. “This isn’t for fashion, it’s to hide the shame.”

Cära made the churring noise again.

“Cära says she can probably reattach it, as long as the witch hasn’t destroyed it,” the Doctor said.

“Aw, thanks, Cära,” Jack said, with a cheeky wink.

Cära’s eyes narrowed and her tail began to smolder with flames.

“If you keep flirting with her, she’ll find your tail and light it on fire,” the Doctor said, turning around to glare at the Tabaxi.

“Was that her threat or yours?” Jack asked.

“Yes.”

Jack shrugged. “Fair enough.”

Cära’s tail stopped smoldering.

“What were you doing to lose your tail?” the Doctor asked.

Cära gave an accusing cry.

“You were trying to sell her one of those dodgy good luck charms, weren’t you?” he translated, giving the Tabaxi a raised eyebrow.

Jack held up a finger.

“Hey, it was a _beauty potion_! ...and yeah, it was a con. But I didn’t lie about the all-natural ingredients! And at least two of the ingredients have some skin benefits!”

Both Cära and the Doctor rolled their eyes, and Rose fought a giggle.

“Honestly, if this witch is as bad as she sounds, you’re lucky she only stole your tail and not your whole pelt,” the Doctor said, turning back to the road. “She must’ve been in a really good mood.”

Cära nodded in agreement.

“Hey, being this fabulous is an occupational hazard,” Jack said, with a shrug and what seemed to be his signature cheeky grin.

This remark earned him another eye roll from Cära, and presumably from the Doctor (though Rose couldn’t be sure, as he was watching the road).

“Did you see where the witch has her lair?” the Doctor asked.

“No. I met her a few hours ago, deeper in the woods,” Jack replied.

“What were you doing there? Didn’t you know about the witch?”

“Of course I did! Do you really think I’d go looking for someone who might want to kill me?!!”

“If there was a profit to be made, you would,” the Doctor deadpanned.

“...Fair point,” Jack said. “But I didn’t know she was a witch when I saw her. She didn’t look like a witch, so I thought I’d offer her a beauty potion.”

“What did she look like?” Rose asked. She had never seen a witch before (not that she knew of, anyway).

“Long blonde hair, red lips, blue eyes. Really beautiful woman. Almost looked unnatural though.” Jack shuddered. “The longer I looked at her, the more I could sense that something wasn’t right.”

“What about her looked unnatural?” Rose asked.

“I’m not sure. She just seemed… flat.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Like she was missing something. Like she was trying so hard to be beautiful that it looked wrong. I didn’t see it right away, but I could feel it.”

“And you still tried to sell her the potion,” the Doctor said.

“Hey, if I listened to every bad feeling I’ve ever had, what kind of a con man would I be?” Jack asked, getting a little of his swagger back.

“What else happened?” Rose asked, mildly creeped out by his story but eager to learn more.

“She got offended that I dared to offer her a beauty potion when she was already perfect,” Jack said. “Her words, not mine. And then she pointed at my tail, there was a flash, my butt hurt really bad, and then my tail was in her hand. Then she zapped my butt again and I ran off as fast as I could. I pulled out my cloak as soon as I was far enough away. Imagine the shame if anyone saw me without my tail.”

“We’ll sort her out, Jack,” the Doctor said. “Rose, we’re gonna be even later getting you home, but I can’t let this go, not with people in danger. You have my word that you’ll be safe. I’ll find you a room at an inn and—“

“Can I help?” Rose broke in. “I know I’m new at all this, but please, don’t leave me behind.”

The Doctor said nothing, but Rose could sense tension coming off him.

“Please?” Rose asked.

Cära flapped onto the Doctor’s shoulder. After about three minutes, he turned and looked back at Rose.

“Are you sure this is what you want?” he asked.

Rose nodded quickly.

“You’ve got to promise to do exactly as I say,” he said.

“I will,” she replied.

The Doctor nodded and turned back to the road.

“Jack, much as I hate to say it, you’re coming with us too,” he said.

Jack grinned. “Purrr-fect.”

“Don’t push your luck,” the Doctor grumbled.

After about another hour of traveling, when the sun was very low in the sky, they reached a large town that the Doctor said was called Chiswick. The Doctor drove the wagon to the front of a building with a sign that said “The Noble Inn.” He pulled Arthur to a stop, and they all got out of the wagon, except for Cära, who stayed perched on the edge of it.

“Cära, stay with Arthur. Jack, stay out of trouble. Rose, come with me. We’ll see if they’ve got any rooms available,” the Doctor said.

As they walked off towards the inn’s entrance, Rose glanced back and saw Jack smirk and wander off silently. Cära had settled down on Arthur’s back.

As Rose turned back, the Doctor added, “I’m friends with the owners of the inn. They’ll find enough room for us and won’t charge an arm and a leg for it.”

Once they reached the front of the inn, the Doctor held the door open for Rose and she walked in. The first thing she saw was a redheaded barmaid behind the counter speaking angrily to a woman with dark skin and black hair that was woven into complex braids.

“I swear, if that tenant has run out on me…” the redhead growled.

“Donna, you know David wouldn’t do that,” the dark-skinned woman said.

The barmaid, obviously Donna, scrubbed harder at the tankard she was cleaning.

“I know, I know,” she huffed, looking worried despite her tone. “But where is that spaceman?! Two months he’s been gone! I mean, when he gets so wrapped up in his tinkering that he forgets to leave his workshop for three days, that’s one thing, but I’ve been in there and he’s gone!”

Rose looked at the Doctor. His face was set in a frown. He walked up to the counter.

“Donna, did you say David’s missing?” he asked.

Donna and the other woman turned towards him, looks of surprise on both their faces.

“Doctor!” the other woman exclaimed. “We haven’t seen you in ages!”

“Yeah, good to see you too, Martha,” the Doctor replied, giving her a small smile. “And you, Donna.”

Then his smile fell and it was back to business.

“You said David’s missing.”

Donna put down the tankard and nodded.

“Yeah. I thought the bloomin’ spaceman just wandered off again, but he’s never been gone this long without telling me or at least sending a message.”

The Doctor nodded.

“We heard there’s a witch in the woods,” he said.

Martha nodded grimly.

“Yeah. Lots of people have gone missing in the last few months. No one’s seen the witch, but—”

“There are strange lights coming from the woods,” the Doctor finished.

“Exactly,” Martha said. “And we’ve seen carts and wagons pull into town with no drivers. Freight and luggage and such are all there, and the horse isn’t hurt beyond being a bit spooked, but there’s no one in the carts. Like the drivers just got up and left. That’s only happened about three times, but once was weird enough.”

“Any pattern in the disappearances?” the Doctor asked.

Donna’s gaze focused on the tankard, and Rose could almost see the wheels turning in the woman’s head.

“Not an obvious one,” Donna said. “It only seems to be one person at a time, two at most, and only humans. None of the Tabaxi or Dwarf families in town have had anyone go missing, but it’s a mostly human population here, so who knows if that’s important.”

“Everything’s important,” the Doctor said quietly, appearing lost in his own thoughts.

“Is this something you’ve seen before?” Martha asked.

The Doctor blinked and shook his head.

“No. Has Capaldi looked into this?”

“Pfft. That old codger never looks up from his cauldron long enough to see anything,” Donna scoffed.

“He’s searched the outer woods, but he hasn’t been able to find anything,” Martha said, giving Donna a look. “He’s said it’s to be business as usual at the apothecary until we know more, but I can tell he’s itching to go and have a proper look for the witch. I think David going missing might be why he hasn’t.”

“That and the woods are huge,” Donna said. “It’d take weeks to search it all.”

“And if it’s a witch, she’s bound to be using some kind of concealment spell,” Martha added.

The Doctor nodded. “Right. Cära and I will talk to Capaldi about this.”

He put an arm loosely around Rose’s shoulder.

“By the way, this is Rose. Rose, this is Martha. She’s Capaldi’s apprentice at the apothecary. And this is Donna. She runs the inn.” 

Both women smiled at Rose, and she smiled back.

The Doctor continued, “I’m escorting Rose home, but the road’s not safe. We need a place to stay the night. Any rooms available?”

Donna nodded. “I s’pose Cära wants a room too?”

Rose frowned.

“Why does she need a room?” she asked. “Couldn’t she just perch somewhere quiet and be alright?”

Donna nipped in and answered before the Doctor could.

“We’ve had the Doctor and Cära here loads of times,” she said. “Cära likes to have a bed to herself. She’s a good customer.”

The Doctor nodded.

“Three small rooms then,” the Doctor said, and pulled a small drawstring bag from his rucksack. “And a stall for our horse.”

“Oh, you’ve got a horse now?” Donna asked. “Lucky for you, we’ve got plenty of room in the stable.”

“I’d better be off home,” Martha broke in. “Good seeing you again, Doctor. And it was nice to meet you, Rose.” She smiled and left.

After he paid Donna, the Doctor turned to Rose.

“Right, we’ll stop at Capaldi’s for supplies in the morning and then go looking for the witch.” The Doctor frowned at Rose. “You’re sure you want to come?”

“Yes.”

Rose wasn’t sure why, but something about traveling with the Doctor and Cära had made her want to go on adventures. Finding a new job sounded boring now. She had helped the two travelers face two threats, and somehow the idea of another one didn’t scare her enough to make her want to stay at the inn.

The Doctor nodded, his mouth forming a hard line.

“Rooms are up the stairs on the back wall. Hot water and soap for washing are included, just use one of the two hall bathrooms,” Donna said, smiling at Rose and handing the Doctor three sets of keys.

“Are you getting a room for Jack?” Rose asked.

“Pfft. That con-man can find his own room. We’re only getting his tail back for him because the witch has been up to no good, and for once, he actually is a victim, even if it’s his own fault.”

He turned to Donna and said, “The witch took Jack’s tail after he tried to con her.”

“Jack’s with you?!” Donna exclaimed. “That scruffy Tabaxi’s not setting one toe in my inn! He drinks the tavern dry and never pays his bills!”

“If Jack’s so bad, why do you know him?” Rose asked.

“I’ve run into him loads of times,” the Doctor said. “We’re not exactly friends, but he’s a good source of gossip, so he can be helpful if I happen to meet him on quests. I’m sure I’d like him more if he wasn’t such a con-man.”

The Doctor brightened a bit.

“Maybe I can ask Cära to jinx his tail to disappear when he tries to con someone. Then maybe he’ll finally turn over a new leaf.”

“She can do that?” Rose asked.

“More or less, yeah,” the Doctor said.

Before Rose could ask any further questions, he held out the key to her room.

“Off to bed with you,” the Doctor said. “We’ll need to be up with the sun tomorrow. If we’re going after a witch, we’ll need all the daylight we can get so she doesn’t take us by surprise.”

Rose swallowed her questions, took the key, and began to walk towards the stairs, determined to give the Doctor no reason to leave her behind.

“Nice meeting you!” Donna called, with a friendly wave and a smile.

Rose returned both gestures and walked up the stairs. She found her room a few moments later, had a quick wash in a strange tub with a lot of copper pipes running into it (the pipes delivered hot water when she turned a marked knob), put her old clothes back on since she had nothing else, and then all but fell into bed. It had been a long day.

-0-O-0-

Rose was woken by a strange wooden box on the bedside table. A little metal bird popped out the front and made a whistling noise. She was startled at first, but it stopped when she gave the button on top a small whack.

“What on earth was that thing?!” she thought.

She got out of bed, looked out the window, and realized that the sun was peeking over the horizon. She cast another look at the strange bird-box. How had it known what time it was?

Rose shook her head and turned to more important matters. She grimaced at her reflection in the mirror. She wasn’t dirty, but her hair was a mess and her clothes were rumpled.

There was a tapping at her door, and Rose, still a bit bleary-eyed, got up to see who it was.

It was the Doctor, with Cära on his shoulder.

“Cära thought you might be more comfortable in these, if you’re coming with us,” he said, holding out a folded tunic and leggings.

Cära churred quietly and held out a brush in her beak.

Rose took everything and smiled with relief.

“Thanks,” she said.

The Doctor nodded. “Hurry and get ready, and don’t forget your sword. Donna’s got some breakfast for us. We’ll wait for you in the tavern.”

The Doctor and Cära left, and Rose quickly shut the door, washed her face with the pitcher and basin near the wall, dressed in her new clothes (they didn’t fit perfectly, but they were soft and comfortable, as if they’d been worn before), and fixed her hair. Then she belted on her sword, gathered her things, and hurried downstairs.

In the tavern, Donna pointed her to a nearby table where there was a bowl of porridge. Cära was there, perching on top of an overturned stewpot on the seat of a chair and eating a slice of buttered toast from a small pile of toast on a plate. The Doctor was nowhere to be seen.

Rose sat down and began to stir her porridge.

“Where’s the Doctor?” she asked. She felt a little awkward asking Cära without the Doctor nearby to translate.

In response, Cära put down her slice of toast and gestured to the tavern door with her wing.

“He’s gone out?” Rose asked.

Cära nodded. Suddenly, she looked a little frustrated, and Rose knew that it had to be because there was something Cära was having trouble communicating, not because of Rose.

“Can… Can you write it?” Rose asked. Ordinarily, the question would have sounded stupid, but Cära did lots of things that no one would expect a bird to do.

Cära shook her head and let out a very quiet, mournful noise.

“Can you draw it?” Rose asked.

Cära immediately brightened and hopped up and down twice, letting out a happier noise.

Rose got up and hurried to the counter.

“Donna, can I have a quill and paper or something to draw with?” she asked.

“Try this,” Donna replied, handing her a piece of paper and what looked like a small, thin, red candle. “David invented them for kids. It’s wax that you can color with.”

Rose decided not to question it and took the wax-pen and paper back to Cära.

Cära took the wax-pen in the talons of one foot and drew something Rose recognized almost instantly. It was a simple version of a cat’s face, but it was grinning and winking.

“He’s gone to look for Jack?” Rose asked.

Cära nodded, put the wax pen down, and went back to her toast. Rose took this as a hint that she had better finish her porridge before the Doctor came back.

Soon, the Doctor came striding back through the tavern door.

“Jack overslept. Honestly, you’d think he didn’t want his stupid tail back…” he was grumbling. He met Rose’s eyes. “Ready to go?”

Rose swallowed her last bite of porridge and nodded. She picked up her bowl and Cära’s plate and took them to the tavern counter. Donna thanked her and went off to wash them.

“Donna, I dunno when we’ll be back. Hopefully by tonight. Can you hold our rooms?” the Doctor called.

Donna stuck her head through the kitchen door.

“Sure! Business hasn’t been very good with the witch around anyway.” She suddenly looked very serious.

“Doctor, I want to come with you.”

“Donna…”

“I’m not waiting around here any longer for David. Please, let me come with you. I’ll feel loads better if I help you find him. Mum and Gramps can run the inn while I’m gone.”

The Doctor swallowed, looking like he had when Rose had asked to come along.

“Please, Doctor,” said an old man, walking in from the kitchen. “We’ll be fine.”

Cära made a soft sound and the Doctor exchanged a look with her. Then he swallowed again and nodded at the old man.

“Okay, Wilf,” he said. Then he looked at Donna. “Right. Get your things together and meet us by Capaldi’s shop. We’ll leave in half an hour.”

Donna nodded and hurried into the kitchen.

“Come on, Rose,” the Doctor said, as Cara flapped onto his shoulder.

The Doctor hurried out into the street, Rose in tow. The streets were almost empty of people. The group turned a few corners and finally got to a shop with a sign that read, “Capaldi’s Apothecary - Trusted Quality in Ingredients, Results, and Explosions.”

“Isn’t it a bit early for a shop to be open?” Rose asked, wondering why the sign specified that the shop had quality explosions but feeling sure that she’d find out soon.

The Doctor shrugged. “If I know Capaldi, he’ll already be up brewing something.”

The Doctor opened the door and the bell above it jingled.

“Doctor! Haven’t seen you in a few months!” the man behind the counter said, setting down a teacup. He was tall and thin, with grey hair that formed a small mountain of tousled curls on his head. He wore a pale grey tunic, dark jacket, and trousers, which all looked like a simpler, more elegant version of the Doctor’s clothes. His sharp grey-blue eyes and grey eyebrows—which made him look perpetually cross—reminded Rose of an owl.

Cära gave a cry.

“Ah. Still a bird, I see,” the man said.

Cära gave another cry, and Rose didn’t have to understand her to know that she meant “shut up.”

“A simple hello would have been enough,” the Doctor said, looking pointedly at the man. “People skills are still a bit lacking, I see.”

“I’m sorry… Really, I am,” the man said, and Rose could tell that beneath the somewhat gruff voice, he meant it. But the odd thing was that he looked genuinely sad for a second. Rose wondered why.

“Rose, this is Capaldi. He’s our potions dealer,” the Doctor said, interrupting her wondering.

“I prefer ‘master brewer,’ thank you!” Capaldi huffed, gripping his lapels and straightening up. “And I think you’ll find I’m much more than just that!”

“What’s that mean?” Rose asked.

“I’m a bit of a bard too, if you must know, as well as a composer and the town doctor.”

“Capaldi,” the Doctor cut in, “we need some more potions. We’re going into the woods to find the witch.”

“Ah,” Capaldi said, sobering. “Should’ve known this wasn’t just a friendly visit, what with David missing. What are you low on?”

The Doctor began listing the potions they needed. While he was busy, Rose looked around the shop. Behind Capaldi was a large chalkboard covered in strange runes, calculations, and paper notes. Rose couldn’t understand most of it, but it looked like he was working on several new potions at once. There were familiar herbs on the shelves lining the walls, like mint and willow bark, and there were jars of honey, cough and fever medicines, antiseptic, and wart removers too. Bandages and splints took up a separate section. But there were also things further away from the entrance that were rather strange to her. Things in jars and bottles with labels, like “anti-venom (for common snakes),” “essence of fire-flower,” and “powdered ram’s horn.” There were also “basic poison antidote,” “poison plant cure,” and “bee-sting remedy.”

“I’ll be back with what you need,” Capaldi said, and Rose turned, eager to see what kind of potions the Doctor had asked for.

The Doctor handed him his blue rucksack, and Capaldi disappeared through the swinging doors that Rose guessed led to the back room.

“Isn’t what you need out here?” Rose asked.

The Doctor shook his head.

“He keeps the more potent stuff in his private brewing lab. You don’t want to give magic forcefield crystals or exploding berries to just anyone. Only customers he knows well can get their hands on his battle-brews, as he calls them.”

Rose nodded. That made sense.

Capaldi came out a few minutes later. The rucksack didn’t look any different, and it didn’t seem to weigh any more than before. Rose had to remind herself that it was enchanted to be bigger on the inside.

Capaldi handed the rucksack back to the Doctor.

“Berries, more forcefield crystals, smoke bombs, fireworks, and a pie, as requested,” he said.

Rose frowned. “Pie? Is that another weird potion-bomb?”

The Doctor smiled and shook his head.

“No. Capaldi’s niece, Clara, likes to bake,” he said.

“And she’s gotten lots better at it,” Capaldi said, with a smile. “Now she can do more for me than just accounting.”

Capaldi nodded at the door.

“Right. Off you go, then. That witch obviously won’t defeat herself.”

“Can’t you come with us?” Rose asked.

“I want to go,” Capaldi said, his smile disappearing. “I really do. But with David missing, I might be this town’s last line of defense. That witch has been striking more and more frequently. I’ve kept track.”

Capaldi turned over the chalkboard behind him, a grim look on his face. He pointed to some strange mathematical figures that made no sense to Rose, but that obviously made sense to both Capaldi and the Doctor.

“The pattern’s not perfect, but if it keeps up, she’ll keep getting more aggressive. I need to stay here in case she makes a direct attack on the town.”

The Doctor nodded.

“Okay. Come on, Rose, let’s g—”

Martha burst through the apothecary door.

“Tish is gone!” she exclaimed. “The witch got my sister! Mum said it must’ve happened late last night!”

Cära gave a cry. The Doctor rushed to the door and opened it. As soon as it was open wide enough, Cära leapt off his shoulder and was off like a shot.

“Where’s she going?!” Rose asked.

“Cära can find any traces of magic in the witch’s trail. It should still be fresh enough for her to follow,” the Doctor said. “If we’re lucky, Cära should be able to find the witch’s lair and then lead us right to it.”

The Doctor put his hands on Martha’s shoulders.

“We’ll do our best to find your sister. You have my word,” he said.

Despite his relatively calm tone, Rose could see the Doctor almost bristling with anger. Capaldi shared the Doctor’s expression.

“I’ll spread the word that everyone should stay in their homes. Then I’ll go up on top of the clock tower to keep lookout. She’s not taking us by surprise again,” Capaldi said.

“I’m not just staying here. I’m going after my sister,” Martha said firmly, swallowing and squaring her shoulders.

Capaldi nodded.

“Clara can mind the shop while you’re gone. Mind you, I don’t think we’ll have too much business today.”

The Doctor didn’t protest at the addition of another companion this time. He just nodded.

“You’ll be needing a few things, of course,” Capaldi said, beginning to rush around and grab potions off the shelves. “No apprentice of mine is going out unprepared!”

Martha held out her open satchel, and Capaldi quickly placed six potions inside.

“You know what to do with these,” he said. “Give me a moment and I’ll get a few battle-brews for you.”

Capaldi hurried into the back room and came back with more potions. He loaded them into Martha’s satchel.

“Right. Off with you, now!” Capaldi said. He picked up a crossbow and a quiver of short arrows from underneath the counter and marched out the front door, calling, “Clara! Lock the doors and mind the shop! There’s another crossbow in the back room! Don’t be afraid to use it!”

A trapdoor opened in the ceiling and a small staircase folded out. A brown-haired young woman with large brown eyes hurried down. Rose guessed it was Clara.

“Yes, Uncle Capaldi!” she said.

The rest of the group hurried out the door and the lock clicked behind them. Capaldi strode off in the direction of Chiswick’s central clock tower. Donna was rushing in the opposite direction, a rucksack on her back.

“Right. I’m ready to go. Where’s Jack?” she asked.

“Right here.” The Tabaxi walked out of an alley, still wearing his grey cloak.

The Doctor nodded. “Okay. Cara’s tracking the witch. Let’s start walking towards the forest. She’ll find us when she has news. Stay alert, stay together.”

“Yes, sir!” Jack said, snapping a salute. He grinned cheekily.

The Doctor ignored him and closed his eyes for a few seconds, looking like he was focusing hard on something. When he opened them again, he nodded once and began leading the group at a brisk pace in the opposite direction of the Noble Inn.

“Cära says she’s found the witch’s trail. She hasn’t seen the witch yet, but she’s getting closer to the lair.”

“How does she know?” Rose asked, staying closer to him than to the others.

“Cära can sense magic, sort of like how a bloodhound can track a scent. Magic always leaves traces.”

“How’d she tell you?”

“Bond magic. We’ve been friends long enough that we don’t always need to see each other to talk.”

Rose nodded. That made sense, especially with the way the Doctor was able to understand Cära with no trouble.

Behind them, Rose could hear the others keeping up their own conversation.

“I didn’t know you’d be coming, Donna,” Martha said, sounding surprised.

“Didn’t know you’d be coming either,” Donna replied. “What happened?”

“Tish is gone. Mum says the witch must have taken her. She disappeared just like the others.”

“I’m sorry,” Donna said quietly.

After a few moments, Rose dropped back to talk with them, eager to get to know as many new people as possible.

She was pleased to find that the two other women seemed just as eager to talk to her. After talking about themselves for a few minutes, the conversation inevitably turned back to the witch.

“I’m coming because David needs my help. I don’t know how I know, but I just know,” Donna said.

“Can’t imagine your mum was pleased with you going,” Martha said. “If I had told my mum where I was going, she’d never have let me go.”

“Oh, Mum tried to stop me,” Donna said. “She didn’t even say goodbye, just kept nagging at me about needing to stay and run the inn.”

“She probably doesn’t want you to disappear like the others,” Rose said.

Donna sighed. “I know. But you’d think she could just _say_ that!”

Rose smiled. “My mum can be like that. Never seems to stop talking, really, and she complains a lot.”

Donna grinned. “Finally, someone else who gets it!”

She looked back at Martha.

“Gramps was with me though,” she said. “You know how he is. Treats David like his own son.”

Martha nodded.

“So, who is David, anyway?” Rose asked. “Everyone but me seems to know him.”

“He’s an artificer, an inventor,” Martha said. “Came to town a few years back.”

“He rents a small house from my family,” Donna said. “Martha’s mum and my mum don’t really care for him.”

“They think he’s a nutter,” Martha said.

“My mum shut up about that after he started offering to sell his inventions to the inn,” Donna said. “Like the heated water system and the alarm clocks in all the rooms and even a thing that makes toast without having to hold bread over a fire. He invites me to see his newest inventions sometimes, and they’re always brilliant. Completely mad, but brilliant.”

“He is a bit mad, I guess,” Martha said, “but he’s kind and fun and always helping people out with what he invents. Disappears for weeks, sometimes, off on adventures, but Capaldi does that too. David’s a good man.”

Rose nodded. David seemed like someone she would like.

“So have either of you ever done something like this before? Going on a… quest-thing?” Rose asked.

“Not on purpose,” Donna said. “The first time I met David, he saved me from a cursed ring that someone sold me. The only way to escape the curse was to pass it on, like that little rat in the market did to me. David sorted it out though. I even helped him find a way to break the curse permanently, so that no one would have to be cursed for me to be free. Haven’t ever had a quest like this, but this isn’t the first time I’ve had to deal with weird stuff.”

Martha nodded.

“Yeah, I’ve only done this sort of thing when I help Capaldi search for ingredients,” she said. “Honestly, it’s mad, the kind of stuff he keeps in his private brewing room. Unicorn hair is _not_ easy to get, let me tell you. But like Donna said, never anything like this.”

After about another quarter of an hour, they had left the town and could see the forest. When they had almost reached the trees, the Doctor stopped and turned to them.

“Listen, I’ve got no clue what we’re getting into. Please tell me you’ve all got weapons.”

He looked at each of them for confirmation.

“Short sword,” Rose said.

“Splash potions: fire, explosion, and smoke,” Martha said.

“I’ve got various knives,” Jack said.

“Magic frying pan,” Donna said.

Everyone but the Doctor looked at her in surprise.

“It was a gift awhile back,” she said, after a pause. “Cära enchanted a cast iron frying pan for me. Hits stuff just like an ordinary pan, but it casts a magic protective shield when I use it defensively.” Donna pulled a big, black frying pan out of her rucksack. The bottom had a strange, circular symbol engraved into it.

Jack shrugged. “Fair enough.”

The Doctor nodded. “Right. Keep your weapons handy. I’ve not had to deal with many bad witches, but from what I’ve seen, they can be nasty and unpredictable.”

The Doctor certainly seemed prepared for the worst: he was wearing his quiver on his right hip and his sword on his left hip, with his bow over his shoulder.

“Stay on your guard,” he said. “Follow me.”

He turned and began to walk quickly through the woods.

“So what are you guys in this for?” Jack asked. “The Doctor and Cära are in this to stop the witch. Rose is here for the experience, I guess. And I’m getting my tail back.”

“The witch took my sister,” Martha said.

“I’m going to find David,” Donna said.

“Looks like we’re all in this for something we care about,” Jack said.

Everyone gave Jack a look. He shrugged and kept walking.

They walked for another quarter of an hour, quickly getting into the deep woods. It was getting darker, despite not even being noon yet, because the trees were getting bigger and closer together. Rose guessed that the only reason the Doctor seemed to be so confident was a steady stream of information from Cära.

Then he stopped.

The group waited for a few seconds. Finally, Rose went directly to his side.

“Doctor? What is it? Has Cära found the witch?”

The Doctor was tense, frozen in his tracks. His eyes were wide and, for the first time Rose had ever seen, scared.

“I can’t hear Cära. She’s gone.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof, this side-quest is getting personal! Stay tuned for the next chapter, which will feature two more familiar characters and a certain spikey-haired half-elf! Thank you so much for reading!


End file.
